A Man and His Shadow
by SpiritGirl183
Summary: Light Yagami had always been alone. From the moment he became Kira to his dying breath, there was no one to have his back. However, even when the end was near, there was something he never was...a loser. In a world of gray, he discovers that not only does he not lose, but he is the victor, and intends to stay that way. Even if it means he must gain a shadow to do so.
1. Prologue: Grand Finale

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Death Note or any of its characters. *This Disclaimer will serve for the entire story*  
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* * *

**_Prologue: Grand Finale_**

Alone.

Light took a deep, ragged breath, his heart thudding, racing, the blood pounding in his ears. His brief life flashed before him, and he grunted as a searing pain entered his chest.

"Someone...?" He gasped to no one in particular. He was completely alone, with no one to come to his aid; he had failed, and it was his own fault.

The image of L appeared in his eyes; the cold, dark, calculating look the detective constantly had given him. The look that convinced Light that he knew much more than he let on, that he never let his guard down.

In a way, Light had felt extremely proud of himself when L had died. He had thought of every misstep, every single moment up to when he held L's dying form in his arms. He thought of no one and nothing but the victory he would obtain, the victory that was finally within his grasp.

Then, as Near emerged and took over the Kira investigation, Light had been shaken somewhat out of his stupor. He realized then that L still stalked him, haunted him in every way, shape, and form.

Light knew somewhere deep inside him that it had been far too easy to go through with is plans with Mikami and Near; however, his ego and confidence proved to be his downfall in the end. He had been too careless, too reckless with his decisions, as he believed Near inferior to L in every way.

Light's shallow breathing slowed, and he gazed distantly up at the roof above him. He breathed in the dusty, damp air of the warehouse, watching as tiny flecks of dust danced and swirled in the sun's rays that filtered above his head.

It had seemed as if time itself had stopped as Light had realized that Near had tricked him, that it had all been a trap from the very beginning. His recklessness had caught up with him, and Light had been driven to the point of near insanity. He recalled the pain, mental and physical, when Matsuda's gunshots pierced him, the desperate look of betrayal in the young detective's glistening eyes; Light knew he had officially lost, then, lost the only hopes he had left to hold on to.

Light didn't have the energy to cry. He already felt the throbbing in his chest easing slightly, his breath becoming fainter. He had already realized moments ago what was going on and why he was feeling this way; Light smirked, knowing that the Shinigami would obtain whatever pathetic life Light would have lived - had he spent the rest of his days behind bars - any second now.

Ryuk had spared him a life of misery in prison. Light mused it ironic how Ryuk seemed to be saving him, yet he knew that Ryuk was only killing Light to quicken the end to his show, his observation and amusement at human affairs.

_Goodbye, Ryuk, _Light thought; once again, he realized that the Shinigami was the only one who truly understood Light, in a sort of twisted, logical way. After all, both of them had much in common, namely killing for a cause; Light for Justice, and Ryuk for Life. Simply, both were caught in a sort of deadly dance, in which only one would irrevocably rise as victor to live another life.

_I hope that this has been a great source of entertainment for you, Ryuk. _Light felt his heart thud slower and slower, his eyes closing into eternal darkness, the ghost of a smirk still on his face.

_I hope you enjoy the grand finale._


	2. Chapter 1: Golden Shades of Gray

**_Chapter 1: Golden Shades of_ Gray**

Gray.

It was everywhere, yet nowhere. There seemed to be a hint of gray in every smudge of light, every speck of existence, everything the remnants of Light Yagami saw when he awakened.

And yet, it seemed, everything had always been gray. The dark, rainy streets of Kanto, Japan staining the gloomy sidewalks a dark gray, the water that splashed the shoes of various pedestrians pallid and sharp as it hit against the gutters. Even Light's life had been dull and gray, despite all of his academic achievements.

That was, until the Death Note had made Light realize his true potential. Then, the gray seemed to disappear as is pursuit of absolute justice was born.

Now, it seemed the gray was back, and Light sighed dejectedly; if this was what limbo was like, he was already bored. Then, a thought occurred to Light, something blatantly obvious but overlooked all the same.

He was _breathing. _He was _thinking._

He was alive.

But how?

Light sat up slowly, feeling lighter than air; it seemed as if his whole body mass had been reduced greatly, and he felt hollow and limber. He blinked a few times, seeing the world in a clearer shade of gray than when he had first awakened. His vision definitely seemed different, almost sharper, as if his eyes were camera lenses finally focusing a picture.

After a moment of finding his senses, he stood, his legs unusually long and his arms hanging limply at his sides. While every part of him felt light, he couldn't seem to gain the energy to lift his limbs quite yet; however, as he stood to his full height, his sense of touch returned and the ground beneath his feet solidified.

_Now, to find out where I am,_ Light thought; already he was deducing his circumstances, analyzing his surroundings with his new perfect vision.

Light took a few steps forward, finding a rhythm as he walked through the various shades of gray around him. As the landscape around him changed, he started to focus and pick out large and small shapes around him, including a large skeletal archway which he walked through without a second glance, as if the sight were normal. As he continued on, the sounds of gruff voices reached his ears, and he heard the chink of dice falling against a bowl; after this, laughter and groans of various tones echoed ahead of him, and he heard the sounds of chinking coins fall against the ground.

Rounding another corner, Light peered around the bend to see four misshapen silhouettes hunched around each other in a tight circle.

"Aw, come on! You greedy bastard!" A hissing, low-toned voice muttered, but Light could somehow tell the voice was playful. The figure had large lips, and a silver shield covered where his eyes would be; an Indian Chief's headpiece adorned his head, and it bristled and shook as the creature laughed.

"Hey!" Another figure shouted in protest, "You're the one who keeps shoving coins in your shawl!" The previous creature with the headpiece fingered his pockets absently while the other figures snickered. The 'greedy bastard' was smiling mischievously, his teeth clicking together in a form that Light guessed was similar to laughter.

A thought occurred to Light then. These creatures…they were similar to the creatures Ryuk had described living in the Shinigami Realm. Their listless behavior, habits of gambling…everything matched Ryuk's description.

_But that would mean…I'm in the Shinigami Realm! _Light smirked to himself; so, this was the limbo Ryuk spoke about when describing the Death Note, so many years ago. Well, the Shinigami had to come from _somewhere_, didn't they?

Light made a coughing noise, signaling to the other creatures – Shinigami, Light corrected himself – that he was there. They all looked his way, their game forgotten.

"Well now, look-y here!" A Shinigami with an animal skull for a head addressed Light first; if he had had lips, Light imagined he would be smirking. "If it isn't the newbie!"

Light stepped out of the shadows, bowing slightly at the group despite himself. "My name is – "

"Naw, we already know who ya are!" The 'greedy bastard' clicked, his voice sounding like razor blades. "Yer that human Ryuk was messin' with!"

Ryuk…Light felt himself tense up. "Do you know where he is?"

The Shinigami with the headpiece shook his head, cackling ominously. "Looking for your daddy, are you, boy? Running home to your Shinigami?"

Light stood straighter, staring coolly at him. "At least I'm not as useless as you lot, gambling your pathetic lives away.. ." Light drifted forward, heading away from the group, his mind set.

"Hey!" The skull-headed Shinigami barked, "Who're you callin' useless, you bastard! Get back here!"

"He's not worth it. We've got better things to deal with than humans gone astray." The headpiece Shinigami scoffed. Light heard them all turn back to their game, and their cackling laughter soon faded behind him.

Light didn't even know where he was going, or even if he had the motivation to find Ryuk; it seemed his own mind kept wandering elsewhere, as if the hollowness of his body couldn't contain more than one thought at a time.

_I'll have to get over that if I'm to keep my own sanity here,_ Light thought, but even this was listless and moved off from his mind.

As he walked, the landscape grew more rugged, and Light began to see the silhouettes of skulls and various bones scattered along the ground. The sight would normally have unnerved him, but now it just reminded him of his own demise.

Anger and a hot, black hatred sparked inside of him, filling the empty cavities of his body to the brim with rage. _Near._ It was L's successor who was to blame for everything; it was _his _fault that Light had lost it in the abandoned warehouse that day, and that Light had lost everything he had worked so hard for in less than an hour.

But even this rage dissipated into the same listless emotion. It was too late now; Light was as good as dead, and stuck in the Shinigami Realm. There was nothing he could do.

Light stopped walking as he reached the edge of a cliff, overlooking what seemed to be a scorched valley with more hills and bones scattered below him. He sat at the edge, propping one of his long legs up under his chin while the other hung limply over the cliff.

Light sighed. "Somehow, Near…I'll find you." He sat in the silence of himself for a while, a warm breeze blowing on his face that stunk of decay and dust. He felt himself drifting off into fits of sleep, if he could call it that; they were more like periods of time where his brain shut off into darkness.

A familiar cackle jerked him 'awake' what felt like minutes later. Light blinked back into the gray of his new reality, sensing a presence behind him. A grin found its way into the corners of his mouth, and he stood, addressing the presence without turning around.

"I thought I'd never find you again…Ryuk."

More laughter. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Yagami?" Ryuk's familiar voice was somewhat comforting, the presence of it familiar in this strange world.

Light turned around to see his former Shinigami standing behind him, although his eyes took in Ryuk in a sharper image; it seemed as if the black shag of his shoulders was more pronounced, and the earring hanging from his left ear was shinier and somewhat larger than it had been…how long had it been since Light had died?

"It has, Ryuk." Light agreed. "It seems even longer since our adventure finished, hasn't it?"

"Yet it was really only a few short years." Ryuk's familiar, permanent smile brought memories to Light in a flood of emotion; Misa Misa's glowing face, L's calculating stare, his own father's eyes as he faded into oblivion…it was all clearer and sharper than as he remembered them before.

"Usually," Ryuk continued, "it takes a few more years for those humans like you to fully transform into Shinigami; compared to my transformation, you were quick."

"How long did it take?" Light asked softly, his tone curious. So it was true, he was a Shinigami now. He realized with a jolt that he hadn't yet seen himself in his new form, but it didn't really bother him.

"Ten, twelve years tops." Ryuk shrugged. "Mine took about twenty-seven, but that's only because of my own issues." Ryuk chuckled.

There was a small pause as Light analyzed his situation. "…So…I guess this means I get my own Death Note, right?"

Ryuk's eyes seemed to glisten. He cackled again. "You never fail to get things done, kid, I'll give you that. I can already see the gears turning in your head."

Light smiled. "And you never fail to be surprised by me, I'll give you that."

"Touche." Ryuk snapped his wings open, suspending himself in the air. He gestured for Light to do the same; Light hesitated for a moment before he concentrated on the muscles of his back. After a moment, he felt his own wings snap open, and a glimpse back showed him a pair of golden, feathery wings.

Light smirked. "Now, I am truly a god." Ryuk cackled at his words, and without a sound Light followed him as they glided back down into the valley.

* * *

**I've decided to publish this story after a brief bout of inspiration striking me upon reading this in my archives. Depending on who likes it, this story will unfold its mysteries. Feel free to leave a review with any constructive criticism and comments.  
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**Thank you!  
**

**~SpiritGirl183  
**


	3. Chapter 2: Calm Before the Storm

**_Chapter 2: It's Always Calm Before the Storm_**

Sakuna Adams stretched, her short blonde hair falling in light curls down her shoulders. Her long, tan arms reached above her head, and she let out a satisfied sigh. The hot, Southeastern Kentucky sunlight scorched her freckled face, beads of sweat falling from her temples to the lush, green ground of the grapevines and tomato gardens of her father's ranch. She brushed aside a stray strand of golden hair behind her ear, blinking the sweat out of her eyes and squinting at the rows she had yet to pick.

Taking her spade of her jeans pocket, she craned her neck over the grapevines to spot her brother's bronze head. "Hey! Haymitch!"

The bronze head whipped her way, and even from the distance of a few rows Sakuna could see his familiar smirk. "What's up, Buttercup?"

Sakuna jerked her thumb back towards the house, a sturdy white Victorian with red shutters. "Pa said he'd have lemonade for us by noon. I say we take a break and head back."

Haymitch nodded, hauling his shovel over one shoulder and jogging toward her. As he passed, he bumped Sakuna with his shoulder, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"First one back doesn't have to clean the spades!"

"Why, you! Get back here!" Sakuna shouted, pushing herself to her feet and rushing after her brother. Haymitch laughed heartily as Sakuna caught up to him, and as soon as they broke through the yard Sakuna snapped out her foot and sent her brother sprawling across the grass.

"Loser!" Sakuna called over her shoulder, hopping up the porch steps. She burst through the screen door and into the cool, air-conditioned kitchen, leaning in the doorframe and catching her breath between fits of laughter.

After a few moments, she eased open the door, crossing her arms and smirking at her brother apologetically. Haymitch trudged up the porch steps, laying his spade on the last step and stopping to stare down at Sakuna.

"The iron grease is out back, if you've forgotten where it is." Sakuna drawled, her voice sugary sweet in the face of her sweaty brother.

Haymitch smirked. "Thanks a ton, little lady." He bowed extravagantly, punching his little sister playfully in the arm as he passed into the kitchen.

Sakuna chuckled, following him and plopping down on their worn, brown leather couch. Propping her brown-booted feet on the coffee table, she closed her eyes and let the cool air from the air vent right above her wash over her sun-soaked skin.

After a moment, Sakuna felt an ice-cold object press against her cheek, and she opened one eye to see Haymitch holding a cool glass of lemonade out to her.

"Winner gets first lemonade dibs, too." Haymitch winked, handing Sakuna her lemonade and sitting beside her. Giving him a suspicious look, Sakuna swirled her lemonade with a flick of her wrist, taking a tentative sip. Once deducing that it was safe, she took a larger gulp and grinned wickedly at her brother.

Haymitch blinked. "Damn, girl. I swear you've got callouses on your taste buds." "Don't think I didn't notice the salt you snuck in there, you—"

"I see you've taken advantage of the lemonade." Sakuna stopped midsentence at her father's bellowing voice, and she smiled weakly as the muscular man waltzed into the room. His face was bright and cheery, blue eyes as warm as the summer sky. His windswept blond hair was sneaking closer to the back of his head every year, but his age didn't show in the way he carried himself about. He was wearing a crisp gray suit, complete with a spiffy gray tie. He was handsome for his age of mid-forty, Sakuna mused, and deduced that he would age well and live a long life if the next years proved simple.

"Hey, Dad." Sakuna greeted, giving him a small smile and a wave. Her father put down his briefcase and walked over to kiss her on the forehead, but recoiled.

"Ah…still sweaty, I'm afraid. Not sure I want salty lips!" Her father chuckled as he leaned over to give his daughter a hug instead. Sakuna giggled; he seemed to be in a good mood, which was a rare sight for a hot late August afternoon such as this.

"Hey, Dad," Haymitch said, standing and heading over to pour his father a glass of lemonade, "did you find out about that editor in Nashville?"

Sakuna's father took the glass of lemonade, leaning against the granite counter and smiling at his eldest son. "Since when are you so interested in business affairs, farmer boy? I thought it was all just picking grapes in your future."

"Come on, Dad. Don't be like that!" Haymitch smiled, but bit his bottom lip to show that he was un-amused. "You know I was interested in that editorial you got. So, what happened? Did he read my manuscript?"

The father smirked. "You know I sent it to him straightaway. It takes a bit to respond to something that…thick…"

Haymitch frowned and, seeing that the conversation was dimming, Sakuna hopped from the couch and waltzed up to her father. "Hey, how'd that meeting go today? You're home awful early for something as important as that."

"What is with you kids and my work today?" Sakuna's father said defensively, eyeing his children suspiciously, raising his dark bronze eyebrows in question. "Your mother didn't put you up to this, did she?"

Sakuna laughed, poking her dad in the gut and pouring more lemonade for herself. "What is it with _you _blaming Mom all the time for our nosiness?"

"Speak of the devil." Haymitch's face visibly brightened as he looked towards the kitchen doorway. The sound of the front door creaking open from the parlor echoed around the house, and the voice of their mother called smooth as honey from the step.

"Damn those Smith kids and their beehive fetish. I nearly got stung in every-which-place just weeding their garden!"

"Mom!" Sakuna jogged through the wooden hallway to the front door, where she saw her mother struggling with groceries and keeping her sunhat on her head.

"Hey, lemme help you with that." Sakuna offered, grabbing her mother's groceries and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Unlike the rest of their blond, burly family, Sakuna's mother was dark and thin, her raven black hair straight and glossy down her back and her sharp brown eyes analyzing every detail. A well-known botanist and florist of their small Kentucky county, her mother was a Native Iroquois whose family had owned the land they stood on for generations. They had only just moved into this new home from their old apartment in Nashville; in fact, the farm was still fairly new as well, only a young seventeen years compared to some of the older estates.

Also unlike some of the other estates, this farm was one of the only ones left in the county that belonged to a Native Iroquois such as Sakuna's mother. Despite the way people talked about their odd family and Sakuna's name, Sakuna's mother stood strong and sturdy, like that of the old willow tree that stood in the front yard.

Sakuna set down the grocery bags in front of the fridge, her brother appearing at her side to help out after giving their mother a brief hug and kiss.

"Frieda!" Sakuna's father bellowed. He rushed forward and grabbed his wife who, giggling and laughing, was spun in a tight circle around the kitchen. After a moment, Sakuna's father stopped her and pulled her in for a kiss, in which Sakuna looked away in respect and slight revulsion.

"_Must _they do this every time Mom comes home?" Sakuna muttered to Haymitch.

Putting the eggs away in the fridge, Haymitch leaned down and whispered back, "Take a good look, missy. 'Cause nothing like that's ever going to happen to you."

Sakuna slugged her brother's arm, and she smiled smugly at his pained expression. Avoiding the death glare she was about to receive, Sakuna opened a cupboard and covered her brother's face.

Once the laughing had subsided, the couple walked back into the kitchen. Frieda was looking much more relaxed and happy, although Sakuna noticed the line of red bumps along her arms and neck.

"Here, Mom, let me get you some Calamine lotion for those sores." Sakuna offered, pouring her mother a glass of lemonade and placing it on the counter in front of her.

Frieda sighed in contentment. "Thank you, my bird. That would be amazing." She made a face, her nose scrunching up in disgust. "I don't know _what _inspires them, but Sandra and Kennedy Smith decided to move their bees into their rutabaga garden. And in June of all months, when the sun beats right into their hive! Stirs them into a nasty temper."

Sakuna chuckled as her mother's ranting voice faded into the background as she headed upstairs to the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. Upon entering her bedroom, Sakuna slowed and looked out the large, double-paned window at the wide expanse of blue sky just beyond her reach. She had often dreamed of flying up there, without the aid of wings or rockets. Just the idea of soaring through the open, warm air gave her pleasant chills.

Heading into her bathroom, Sakuna opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the calamine lotion. Just as she was about to shut the small door, a thin, muffled _boom_ rattled it in her hand, making her grasp it to keep it still. Puzzled, Sakuna looked around the bathroom, then back out into her room for the cause of such a tremor.

Everything seemed ordinary…

Except for the thin, black book falling just outside her window.


	4. Chapter 3: Long Live the God

_**Chapter 3 - Long Live the God**_

"You didn't have to do it, you know."

Light turned to Ryuk, his red eyes glowing defensively. "What are you talking about, Ryuk?" A small, crooked smile escaped his lips. "I told you what I was planning all along. I didn't necessarily see you jump to stop me."

Ryuk uttered his raspy laugh. "That much is true. It's not everyday you see a Shinigami manipulated out of a Death Note. Then again, they were facing _you,_ so I shouldn't be this surprised..."

Light smirked once more, settling back against a large, gray rock with his bony hands behind his head. They were sitting at the edge of the cliff again, but in a shadier spot where an outcropping of rocks hid their conversation from sight. Light marveled at how dark and gloomy this realm seemed on a regular basis, and he decided to ask Ryuk a question that had been drifting in and out of his mind for quite some time now.

"Ryuk, with all the years it took for me to…form…why didn't you change anything in the Shinigami Realm? I thought you wanted to make a difference."

Ryuk shrugged, the shag on his shoulders rustling slightly. "After a year or two, everyone had heard the story of my time in the Human World. That's when they stopped listening altogether and I couldn't get anything through to them." Ryuk uttered another dry laugh. "It wasn't until they started expecting _you _to show up that they started taking interest in whatever the hell I was doing again."

"Perhaps now would be the best time to talk to the King about some redecoration?" Light said, his voice suave despite its newly rough, hollowed texture. What he was learning about Shinigami was that, similar to himself, they had short attention spans and could only focus on one flitting idea at a time. He figured that, if Ryuk had kept the same intentions for this long of a time, then it must mean a new evolution was about to take place. Hm. He stored away the thought to investigate another time.

"I dunno, kid. Haven't seen the King since I jacked his second Death Note." There was a slight hint of warning in the gothic god's voice, as if his hollow being was tensing up for an argument.

Light shrugged. "It's up to you. It's not my problem. I'm perfectly happy with the conditions here." He smirked drily. "In fact, they're similar to the textures we had back home."

Ryuk's face seemed to darken, his eyes flashing. "You know, Light…" Light turned his face up to look at his former companion, his gaze calm and steady. "…You are no longer human. The Human World is no longer your home." Ryuk snapped open his wings, his mouth quivering as if about to laugh. "…and yet I wonder…what are you plotting…?"

Watching Ryuk's disappearing form across the barren wasteland of the Shinigami Realm, Light chuckled, surprisingly a lot louder than he had expected. For a split second, the laugh filled his entire form, engulfing him in spasms that felt as if a river were bubbling and boiling inside the hollows of his heartless chest.

As his laughter subsided, he reached to the thin, black notebook lying facedown at his side. He opened it, flipping through the pages one by one, counting them slowly in his head. If he thought hard enough, he could remember some of the names he had written down in one of these so long ago. Hitaki Ritoru, page twelve, heart attack; Tatsua Masaharu, page twenty, suicide; the list seemed to run on and on in his mind, filling the blank pages once more.

He gripped the Death Note suddenly in a strong grip, and he felt the warm feeling of power enveloping his core, returning to his lonely bones. This is what he had been meant to do; what had been his life's purpose was now his afterlife's purpose.

And he intended to do it well.

Light smirked smugly to himself, loosening his grip as the feeling subsided into the emptiness that was a Shinigami's only company. Yes, he would continue to write names in the Death Note, but now with a reward; new life to himself for every person he killed.

But he could care less about his own life. It was human lives that he was concerned with.

With his new second Death Note—cleverly gambled away from the 'greedy bastard' Shinigami who had welcomed him into the Realm—he had the power to manipulate the Human World; mold it, one person at a time, to his will. Now, everyone on Earth was at his mercy, and he truly was a god of Justice.

But as his thoughts wandered into the forests of greed and power, so they did stray onto the darkened paths of hatred and vengeance. Yes, he would be Justice once more, but even God has His grudges; and no one could blame Light Yagami for killing anyone anymore.

"We take lives to gain life." Light murmured. "We destroy in order to create."

Light snapped the Death Note shut, hearing the pages snap crisply back into place. The words on the cover were written in English, as his had been so many years ago. Unwritten in, except for a few names scribbled hastily along the first few lines.

Death Note in hand, Light snapped open his golden wings and flew forcefully forward, past the barren gray cliff to the silver horizon ahead of him. Ryuk had shown him the way to a passage to the Human World, where he often watched his victims live their lives before killing them off. Light was certain he'd find the Gothic Shinigami there, whiling away and wishing for entertainment.

_I'll give you something to entertain yourself, Ryuk,_ Light thought, half smiling to himself. But the thought passed fleetingly through his empty skull, lost on the windless desert of the Realm he now resided in.

* * *

Sakuna stood in front of the kitchen sink, scrubbing a particularly sticky stain of lemon merengue pie and listening to the crickets chirp noisily outside the window above her hands. The summery night sky seemed to abound with stars, as if God had spilled a bucket full of twinkling lights on the backdrop of heaven. The grapevines and wheat fields rustled in the warm breezes, and Sakuna longed to be out in them instead of stuck inside the house.

A harsh _crack_ startled her out of her reverie as her father snapped open the newspaper, and craned her neck to look through the doorway into the dining room where her family and their neighbors, the Andersons, sat eating and chatting about politics. Her father's back was to the kitchen so Sakuna couldn't see his expression, but by the way his shoulders seemed to stiffen she could tell he was getting into one of his heated debates with Mrs. Anderson.

"I'm telling you, Betty. By the way the stocks have dipped in the past ten years, Mr. Clements' business is in the red. He can't afford to invest in a campaign, especially if his competition is with Hyde and Duke." Sakuna always loved hearing her father's voice boom and echo across the room when he was having a discussion, as if he were proclaiming his views on the seriousness of world peace instead of the petty problems of the county. Mr. Adams was known in the county for his knowledge and rank in terms of state and county politics – after all, he was himself a candidate for mayor – so it wasn't a surprise that Mrs. Anderson, the county paper's top journalist, was eating with them so close to the new Mayoral Election.

Mrs. Anderson adjusted her cat-eye glasses on the bridge of her crooked nose, her chalky red lips puckered in a purse of distaste. "But if he didn't invest in the campaign, then his company will dip anyway from lack of advertisement. This way, by investing in the campaign, he can measure his average yearly sales by another 50%..."

"Ugh!" Sakuna groaned audibly from the kitchen. However much she enjoyed hearing her father debate, Mrs. Anderson's piping voice was enough to make her head spin. She made even the most interesting discussions as dull and balmy as her attitude.

Wiping her hands on the dishtowel, Sakuna glanced at the porcelain clock ticking next to the fridge and read the time, _9:18_. After excusing herself from the table and walking over to lounge on the couch, her eye caught on the thin, black cover of a large notebook peeking out of the couch cushions.

Looking back into the dining room to make sure no one was looking, Sakuna slipped her hand into the small crevice and fished out the notebook, grasping its flimsy pages in her delicate, cold hands. She traced with her index finger the thin, bulging white letters on the cover, silently mouthing the words, _Death Note _on her tongue as she read them.

With the knowledge that the dinner party would move to the living room soon to watch some TV, she took the opportunity of her few minutes of seclusion to flip open to the first page.

The inside flap wasn't very exciting, yet it's Gothic theme was somewhat charming to Sakuna. In blocky white letters a list ran down the cover, and as Sakuna read over some of the first ones she realized this notebook might be more Gothic and voo-doo-y than it seemed.

"Hey, what you got there?" Sakuna jumped at her brother's voice behind her, and she closed the notebook slightly to turn her head around and glare at him.

Sakuna rolled her eyes. "As if you don't know, Haymitch." She waved it in front of his face accusingly. "Don't think I didn't see you drop it in the field this afternoon."

Haymitch blinked down at her, puzzled. "Um, no. I've never seen that before." He chuckled. "And trust me, when it comes to pranking you, I gladly take the credit, so hear me when I say this isn't me."

"I'm serious." Sakuna felt goose-bumps blossom up her arms at the sincerity in her brother's voice. She peeked open the cover to look at the inside flap again, her eyes scanning the first 'rule' on the list. "What kind of sick joke is this, Haymitch? I mean seriously, this isn't like you."

"I don't know what you're talking about! Honest!" Haymitch spread his hands out to his sides in an innocent gesture. "I didn't drop it."

"Oh? Then tell me you didn't write this." Sakuna cleared her throat. " 'The person whose name is written in this note shall die'. I mean, really, how thick do you think I am?"

Haymitch shook his head, causing Sakuna to sigh irritably. She stood, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a pen out of the drawer beside the fridge. Haymitch leaned back on the kitchen counter, eyeing her skeptically while she stood in front of him. She opened the note to the first page, clicked the pen, and hovered her hand over the book.

"Then I guess you don't mind if I write your name down in here, then!" Haymitch rolled his eyes and walked off into the living room as Sakuna scrawled the word 'Haymitch' into the note.

But before she could write out their last name, Sakuna heard her father's voice boom from the dining room. "Ah, Sakuna! Can you hand me that pen and paper, I want to jot down a phone number for Mrs. Anderson here."

Sakuna glared at the back of her brother's head as he reclined lazily on the couch. Sighing to herself, she tucked the notebook under her arm and headed over to her father's chair at the head of the dining room table.

Her father sat upright, his napkin hardly stained but his plate clear of the messy lasagna they had had for dinner. Sakuna always thought it funny how such a large, boastful man could eat as daintily as an antebellum maiden.

His small blue eyes brightened at the sight of his daughter, and he embraced her in a one-armed hug. "There's my girl." There was a tang of red wine on his breath, but as always he was alert and on his best behavior. Sakuna smiled at him as he eyed the notebook under her arm.

Sakuna placed it on the table and handed the pen to her dad. He squinted at the cover for a moment, and then laughed. "Death Note, huh? Is that what kind of design they put on notebooks, these days?"

"Nah," Sakuna shrugged, "it's just some joke Haymitch made. I don't know what he was thinking." Sakuna ignored the cries of protest from her brother in the living room.

Sakuna's father clicked the pen and chuckled to himself as he wrote a name and a series of digits on the corner of the first page. "You two always find creative ways to mess with each other…" He tore off the part of the paper where he wrote, sliding it across the table to Mrs. Anderson, who had watched the scene with distaste.

Sakuna felt something like unease flicker in her chest; had she really just let her dad use this frightening black notebook? Even though she was sure it was a prank, Sakuna couldn't help but remember that first rule…however, Mrs. Anderson was already punching the number into her cell phone.

"There's the name and number of Mr. Clements for you, Betty." Sakuna's father winked at her, and Mrs. Anderson rolled her eyes as she stuffed the paper into her bag.

"Thank you, Mr. Adams. I had a lovely time chatting with you." Somehow, Mrs. Anderson made the phrase sound most unpleasant. She then stood and turned to face Sakuna's mother, who was sitting quietly reading a botanist magazine in the loveseat in the corner of the room. "Thank you, Mrs. Adams, for a wonderful meal." Sakuna's mother looked up from her magazine, nodding curtly at the prude old woman in front of her. Sakuna giggled; her mom hated Mrs. Anderson.

Just before Mrs. Anderson could walk out the front door, a startling _screeeech _and a _crash_ shook the tinkling crystal chandelier above the door, followed by the sound of a car alarm wailing frantically into the night.

Quick as a flash, Sakuna's father was up out of his chair and marching toward the door. Upon thrusting it open and looking outside, he gasped in astonishment. "Freida, get the phone! There's been an accident!"

While her mother dropped the magazine she was holding to grab the phone in the kitchen, Sakuna dashed past a stricken Mrs. Anderson in the hallway and out onto the patio, where she stopped abruptly in her tracks at the sight before her.

Glowing with a reddish hue in the darkness of the country road, a car's outline stood out stark and black in the outline of flames. At the front of the car, a telephone pole lay cracked in two, its broken wires flailing bright sparks into the night sky. A figure lay unmoving in a patch of flattened grass by the side of the road, and Sakuna's stomach churned at the sight of a dark pool slowly oozing from the figure's underside.

"D-Dad?" Sakuna croaked, her throat constricting with panic-filled tears. "Who is that?" Sakuna's father had dashed down to help the figure, but the heat from the burning wreckage pushed him back. He ended up coming back on the porch, holding Sakuna tight to his side to keep her from trembling.

"Come on, honey. Let's get back inside with your mother." Her father's voice was soft and grave, and Sakuna let him lead her inside to sit on the couch. Her legs were trembling from shock, but her eyes were dry despite the lump that had formed in her throat.

Seeing his sister in such a state, Haymitch jumped up off the couch to make room for Sakuna to sit down.

"Dad, what's going on? I heard a crash outside." Haymitch asked, his voice laced with worry. "Is anyone hurt? Is Mrs. Anderson all right?"

"Yes, she's fine." Sakuna's father said, his voice mellow. "We've got a bit of a crisis on our hands. There's a fire outside, and I need you to help me try and put it out while we wait for the police and fire department to arrive."

Haymitch ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes frantic. "The police? Fire department? Dad, what's going on?"

"Just…fill the pails. You'll see."

* * *

The youthful officer rubbed between his eyes, sweat plastering his crew cut dark hair to his temples. He was sitting wearily on the front porch swing, his legs tapping insistently on the wood and a cool glass of lemonade standing untouched on the table at his elbow.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Adams, but we've done everything we can. The paramedics diagnosed Mr. Clements of dying of a heart attack before crashing the car; he was long gone before any of us could reach him."

Sakuna's father paced the porch, wringing his hands. Sakuna sat on a lawn chair on the opposite side of the porch, her legs tucked under her and a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

Mr. Adams paused a moment, looking out on the now doused wreckage, and Sakuna saw him wince as the paramedics put a yellow plastic bag over poor Mr. Clements' body. He cleared his throat. "I understand. This is…a major tragedy for us all here in the county. He was our best mechanic." He sucked in a breath suddenly, and Sakuna swore she saw a tear glisten at the corner of his eye. "…He was…a good friend. He and I…he was at my wedding." Mr. Adams walked into the house, a fist upon his closed mouth as if he were holding in a sob.

Sakuna herself was in a state of shock. The paramedics had given her a soft gray blanket to drape over her shoulders, but it hardly did anything to stop the shuddering chills rippling down her spine every five seconds. Her mind was buzzed yet oddly blank, both full of thoughts but empty of emotion at the same time.

After a moment, Mrs. Adams walked out on the porch, turning to face Sakuna and not risking a glance toward the wreckage. "Sakuna, honey, let's get you to bed. It's late, and you've got to get some rest." Her skin was pallid, her eyes as empty a brown as Sakuna's own.

Sakuna nodded, standing. She gripped her tea more tightly to keep her hands from shaking, and she nodded toward the officer. "Thank you. And…" Sakuna shifted the blanket tighter on her shoulders. "…Do you mind if I keep this?"

The policeman cracked a smile. "Of course. Go right ahead."

Sakuna nodded once more, following her mother into the house and upstairs in a daze.

Sakuna drifted through her nightly routines in a fog, and before she knew it she was sitting at her desk and staring at a bit of unfinished Geometry homework. All it seemed she could do was stare at the paper and blink dumbly as the equations floated aimlessly through her head. After five minutes of frustrating attempts at focusing, Sakuna finally pushed away her homework and just lay her head on her desk, closing her eyes.

How could this have happened? Just two hours ago she had been joking and cleaning plates. Plates! She couldn't comprehend how everything could just fall apart as quickly as it had. She felt the lemon merengue pie bubble and churn in her stomach, and bile rose treacherously up her throat and made her convulse. However, she didn't vomit, just kept her stomach pressed against her knees as she curled into a tight ball to stop the world from spinning.

She had never before seen a dead body until tonight. Not to mention that it was the dead body of her friggin' _neighbor_. Whom she had known since before she could talk.

Tears threatened to well in her eyes, and she felt a sob catch in her throat. However, the only thing preventing her from crying was the sudden realization of horror that spread through her whole body.

Somehow, she knew she was responsible for his death. Somehow, the death written in that harmless black notebook had come true.

And she didn't stop it.

But how could she have known? And…how could she even know for sure if it was just a tragic coincidence? Besides, what were the chances of her causing Mr. Clements to have a heart attack when that wasn't even physically possible? All because of a stupid book?

Sakuna felt herself calming down, her breaths evening and her stomach slowly returning to feeling normal. No, she couldn't have caused this death. Even if one of the rules had said that the person who was written in the Note would die of a heart attack, it could have just been natural causes that made Mr. Clements die the way he did; after all, Sakuna mused, he _had_ been putting on a few pounds since she'd last seen him.

Her chest tightened. She would never see him alive ever again. This time, a sob wracked her body and escaped her tightly closed lips, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks in thin lines.

After a fit of crying which left her feeling empty and stuffy, Sakuna blew her nose in the bathroom and sat at the edge of her bed. She ran her fingers through her short blonde hair, going over the leftover emotions running through her brain.

However much she tried to push it down, her curiosity for the Death Note seemed to mount with rising interest. Was there even the slightest chance that the book could be real? As soon as she thought it, she shook the thought away. No, that was absurd. Books couldn't kill people, _people _killed people.

Sakuna sniffed. She couldn't be sure until she tested it, for certain this time. Just something small and insignificant to convince her that it wasn't real, something to just settle her mind on the matter and let her forget this whole death business.

Sakuna stood, opening her bedroom door a crack and silently walking out, tiptoeing down the stairs and past the front door to where the dinner plates were still sitting unwashed on the table. She saw the Death Note lying open where her father had sat, and she felt herself relax; somehow, seeing that it was still just a notebook made her feel more confident that her suspicions were wrong. She quietly walked over and picked it up, shutting it and tucking it under her arm before slinking back upstairs.

Closing her bedroom door behind her, she plopped on her bed and turned on her bedside lamp, opening the front cover again. She read down the list of rules, reading over a few of them multiple times to see if it could help her understand what it was all about.

* * *

Light Yagami watched Sakuna from the portal to the Human World, and he chuckled as she repeatedly skimmed through the book's pages, as if trying to comprehend the power held there.

"It's funny." Ryuk said from beside Light, his red eyes bulging as they looked down on the girl. "Her reaction to it is much different from yours."

Light waved his hands at Ryuk, as if shooing the words away. "The differences between her and I lie both in how we were introduced to the Note and how we handled the first killing. Give her time, Ryuk; she'll succumb to it eventually." As he said it, Sakuna seemed to drift a bit in her reading, lying her head on her pillow.

"And when she does?" The interest in Ryuk's voice was evident, as if he were anticipating what Light was going to do even though he didn't say it.

Light smiled, his eyes glowing. "Then long live the God." He chuckled darkly, watching as Sakuna gave way to slumber, the Death Note tucked safely under her pillow.

**Please review and tell me what you think! :)**


	5. Chapter 4: Curiosity Killed the Cat

**School and life got in the way, but summer's here to save the day!**

**I'm getting back on track with all of my writing projects, and lucky for you this is one of 'em.**

**Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 4: Curiosity Killed the Cat **_

Sakuna shifted her navy backpack on her right shoulder, doing a last physical check in the mirror near the door to check that every part of her outfit was in order. She had pulled her hair into a low ponytail, a short little sprout at the base of her neck, and she tucked stray hairs behind her ears while she inspected the neatness of her clothing. Funny, she thought; a week's worth of mourning and she was able to stand again, the absence of pain in her stomach comforting.

"Honey? Do you need a ride to school? You don't want to be late your first day back." Freida Adams' voice rang from the kitchen amid the clang of pots and pans. Sakuna could hear her brother watching TV in the living room, the garbled voices somewhat muffled by the wall separating the dining room where she was standing and the living room-kitchen. Normal morning sounds, everyday sounds that Sakuna had heard countless times over the years, but somehow…it still felt out of place, especially when the funeral was coming up fast.

"Sakuna?" Sakuna was snapped out of her thoughts as her mother called her name again.

"It's cool, Mom, Dad's gonna drive me!" Sakuna called into the kitchen. She walked over to the small sitting room just to the left of the front door, where she and her friends usually crashed on study nights during the week. She grabbed her keys on the end table beside the couch along the wall, stuffing them into her jacket pocket and hesitating as she went through a mental list.

"Keys, phone, books, pencils…" Sakuna felt the breath catch in her throat. The Death Note; should she even risk bringing it to school? She hadn't touched it for a week, and the prospect of what it could've done…

Sakuna shook her head. No. What would she do with it, anyway? However, she felt an invisible tug at her heart, and the thought of the Note lingered in her mind.

Maybe…maybe she _should_ bring it, just in case an opportunity arose in which she could test it properly, without making a scene of herself, of course. Perhaps she could write down the name of a purse-snatcher or a local criminal. Maybe her friends would know something. Though Sakuna's stomach churned with anxiety, she raced back upstairs and grabbed it from under her pillow before anyone had seen her leave.

"Sakuna!" Sakuna's father boomed. She saw him trot down the stairs just moments after she had reached the door, his car keys in one hand and a briefcase in the other. Her father was dressed in a dark blue suit, an off-white dress shirt, and black striped tie dangling untied at his light blue collared neck. Upon seeing Sakuna right next to the door, he smiled.

"Ah, there you are. Am I taking you to school?"

Sakuna nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Alright. Bye, everyone! Love you!" Sakuna's father called out to Freida and Haymitch. Within moments, they both had stuck their heads out of the doorway and uttered a small "Goodbye, love you" back.

Sakuna followed her father out the front door and into his car, a sleek silver BMW parked in their gravel driveway. Hopping into the shotgun seat, she watched her dad rev up the car and felt the bumps as they sped away down the road.

After the initial shock of the morning had faded, Sakuna felt her spirits drop and her heart sink back into the newly sealed hole of despair in her chest. Not only had she just missed the entire first week of the new school year, but she had to face all of the questions and reproachful stares stalking her when she returned, asking why she had been missing and how she'd make up the work. All she REALLY wanted to do was curl up in her bed and watch more action movies on her computer at home, but she knew that she needed to push herself to go back to school and get caught up.

Sakuna frowned, her eyes watching the telephone poles and trees dart by her window; after a few moments they passed by Mr. Clement's house, and Sakuna forced herself to look away, forming fists with knuckles white. After being holed up in her house for nearly all of the week, it was hard to pass by such familiar scenery without feeling the ghostly reminders it held.

"You all right, sweetheart?" Mr. Adams' voice was surprisingly soft, like the affectionate purr of a lion toward a cub.

"Sure…" Sakuna said flatly, not even trying to sound sincere. She looked at her twiddling thumbs in her lap, tracing random freckles she found on her fingertips.

Sakuna's father paused. "Hey, I know we're almost there, but you don't have to go to school today. If you want, you could just chill in my office until I can take you home again?"

Sakuna looked up at her father, whose eyes were intent on the road ahead; however, she saw that he was gripping the steering wheel much tighter this morning, holding it with both white-knuckled hands. She knew he was struggling, too.

Sakuna looked back out the window as they passed a grove of orange trees. As much as her fantasy of curling up at home sounded great, she replied, "Thanks, but I think school would be good for me. I need some support from my friends. And besides, your office is boring, anyhow, what with Mrs. Anderson always squawking at your door for an interview." Sakuna's tone had warmed and turned playful, and she saw her dad's grip on the wheel relax a bit as he let out a hearty chuckle.

"That woman doesn't seem to know when to stop, does she?" Her father turned to look at Sakuna, a twinkle in his eyes and a smile lighting up his face. "Hey, tell you what. Tonight, we can order out and all watch that horror movie you wanted to see."

Sakuna snorted, but she smiled. "Please, Dad. Zombielandis definitely not a horror movie. But that sounds great." She admired her dad for trying so hard and reaching out to her, especially now when she was so fragile. Her eyes still burned from last week's tears, and she pulled her sunglasses over them self-consciously as she saw her face in the rearview mirror.

Her dad was always so busy with his mayoral campaign that he hardly ever seemed to have family time. Now, though, with Mr. Clements out of the running as a possible candidate for mayor, her father might just be able to spend more time with his family.

_Now my dad has a better chance of getting elected and changing this town, _Sakuna thought_. _As if materializing from a dark corner of her heart, Sakuna felt a flash of…was it…satisfaction?

* * *

The school bell clanged, echoing through the tan-colored, whitewashed hallways and bouncing off of the numerous locker doors. Almost simultaneously, classroom doors clicked open on either side of the hall and students began pouring out by the dozens; the murmur of voices filled the once silent corridor, Sakuna's blonde head among the numerous others bobbing on their way as she wove her way through the crowd toward her locker right across from her classroom. She tried not to notice how people distanced themselves from her hurrying form, and held her chin up high as she passed by people whispering and staring at her with apprehension. Sakuna fiddled with her locker combination, her hands clammy with nerves, and on the third try she managed to ease it open; she let out a small sigh of relief.

"Hey! Sakuna!" As Sakuna put her math textbook in her locker and pulled out her English binder, she turned around to greet the familiar voice that had sounded right behind her. She met the heavily made-up blue eyes of Abigail Spektor, one of her best friends since they were toddlers.

"Hey, Gale. How was your break?" Sakuna asked lightly, closing her locker and adjusting her backpack on her shoulder; she felt its newly leaden weight and winced at the abrasive strap scratching her shoulder.

Gale shrugged, her long black curls swishing slightly on her back as she did so. "It was all right, I guess. Didn't really go out." Gale's face brightened, her pale blue eyes glowing and her pasty skin warming to a rose color. "But I found a new website full of old Scottish mythology that talked about the different forms of the Loch Ness Monster that have been sighted over the years."

Sakuna smiled at her passionate friend. "Anything interesting?"

"Well, no, nothing I haven't already deduced for myself." Gale huffed, blowing a strand of dark curly hair out of her face. "I know it's all bull-crap anyway, but it's still fun to read about all of the mythology behind it." Gale's words rolled crisp and quick off her tongue, as if her mind had already processed exactly what she was going to say before she even opened her mouth.

Sakuna nodded in understanding. Her Gothic friend had a deep passion for the old and dusty, particularly the ragged and patch-worked folktales and fantasies of any mythology she could get her scarlet-tipped fingers on. Her interest stemmed from her creativity in her daily life, particularly centering at her uncanny skill with numbers and how mathematics present themselves every day; mythological creatures helped give her insight into the minds of people and how their brain chemistry worked through the centuries and, as Sakuna often heard, were fun for her to doodle when she was listening to a lecture. Today, she wore a light gray tank top with the neon green cursive words 'Demonic Cupcakes' written across the chest in a letterman style. Her black skinny jeans were ripped at the knees, and her heavy, black Dr. Marten shoes complemented her navy newsboy cap.

"Have you seen Patrick? I haven't run into him yet, and I need to give him back his Civil War notes." Sakuna asked, looking up and down the whitewashed hallways as she and Gale walked to their third period together. She attempted to spot a familiar ginger-blond head among the waves of people, but she was unhappy to find that her friend was not among them.

"No, I haven't seen him yet, but knowing him he's probably slacking off by the bleachers with his goons." Though her tone was somewhat biting, Gale smirked at the thought of their best friend ever even considering the company of the mindless drones of the football team.

"What's that I hear? Patrick Henderson, slacking off with goons? Disgraceful!" Sakuna smiled as a boisterous voice called out through the murmurs of people, and she turned around to see Patrick weaving his way toward them. He was a simple-looking fellow, with side-swept ginger-blond hair the color of a warm summer sunset. His eyes were a dark hazel, and they sparkled with mischief as he stopped in front of the girls and pulled both of them into a crushing hug. He was exceedingly tall and equally as muscular, strong enough to pick both of them up and still not break a sweat. Today he wore faded jeans and a light blue graphic tee with an octopus staring menacingly from between his pectorals.

"I couldn't even bear the thought!" Sakuna replied, putting the tips of her fingers to the edge of her mouth in a signal of sarcastic shock. Then, a knowing grin spread across her face. "Unless of course, there's someone of interest among those geese that fell out of the flock and into the lions' den."

Patrick beamed and bowed to her. "So sue me. These guys are asking for it, anyway." He gestured to himself, waggling his eyebrows comically. "They know they got nothing on this gentleman."

Patrick was one of the only people Sakuna knew that she would classify as a truly free-spirited person, both at school and in the county in general. He could hang around any group of people, from the hardcore divas to the geekiest of techies, and no matter what he was guaranteed to crack a few jokes that would leave anyone around him laughing and smiling for hours afterward. He was a lighthearted guy, open-minded and seemingly simple, but despite all his brawn he had a delicate way with which he would handle precious things; in his free time he loved to write sensitive poetry, and his ceramics and pottery works were county-famous for his attention to detail.

However, both Sakuna and Gale noticed a certain restlessness that had grown about him in the past few weeks before school, and even after a nice long rest from school he still seemed antsy and on his toes. Even as he spoke to them, he was bouncing on the balls of his feet, as if eager to get somewhere.

Gale pulled the neon green cupcake earbuds from her ears, and Sakuna could hear the faint sound of a classical orchestra playing from their silver centers as she hung them loosely around her neck. Gale smirked at Patrick, her blue eyes questioning. "Oh yeah? Well, where were you all summer, Mr. Gentleman? You hardly called or texted either of us while you were in, let's see, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia." Gale raised her eyebrows, Sakuna mimicking her look as they stared suspiciously at Patrick.

Patrick closed his eyes and put his hands up in the air, a nervous laugh escaping his lips as he took a few steps backwards. "I was busy, with family and stuff. You know, lots of great-aunts who had birthdays and cousins with babies…"

"Mhm. I believe that as much as I believe Hades is the God of Light and Prosperity." Gale said, her tone matter-of-fact; she often acquired said tone whenever trying to out-do another person with her knowledge, and Sakuna knew that she usually succeeded.

Before Patrick could reply, there was a loud _beep_ that echoed through the hallway; all three of them recognized it as the 1-minute bell—meaning the three had one minute to get to class before they were late—and with very brief farewells the friends dispersed and rushed to their next class.

Sakuna plopped down at her lab station in science class just as the bell rang and class started, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. She looked around at everyone else and, upon realizing they all already had their labs from the previous day out and ready for use, Sakuna felt a stab of guilt; she scrambled to get her summer homework out of her backpack and ready her own lab station before the teacher would notice she was behind.

"Good morning, class." The jolly voice of Mr. Smith rang through the classroom, his accent apparent not only in his speech but by his obviously British apparel—black slacks, a light pink dress shirt, red suspenders and a matching bowtie. He was new to the school this year and younger than most of the other teachers, and being in his early thirties he had the spunk of a child while at the same time the demeanor of a kind old man. He was extremely intelligent and absolutely adored his job, unlike those high school science teachers before him who just stuck to the textbook outline and made them fill out papers all day.

Sakuna especially enjoyed his class not only because of the fondness he had for all of his students, but also because what he taught them sometimes went outside of the required learning in the curriculum. He talked to them about the physics behind forming galaxies and planets when they were supposed to be learning the periodic table, and he often took them on field trips to explore how things worked in the real world. Such field trips, however, got him in trouble a few times with the school board, as they deemed his taking them hot air ballooning unplanned, 'unfitting of a teacher so new to the system'. However, none of his students ever complained.

Sakuna smiled at Mr. Smith as he walked by her, his head bent slightly forward as he examined her summer homework stacked at the corner of her desk. "Ah, Adams," he said, his tone pleased, "it's good to see you again. I'm sure my top student had a wonderful break?"

Despite herself, Sakuna hesitated before nodding and giving a half-hearted smile. Though the sights of her friends and favorite teacher had somewhat filled the void that had replaced her stomach when Mr. Clements passed away, she felt all of the old feelings erupt again in an instant. She swayed a bit on her chair, but smiled reassuringly when Mr. Smith gave her a scrutinizing stare.

"I had a wonderful break, Mr. Smith." Sakuna replied confidently.

Mr. Smith nodded and smiled, but then he frowned and leaned down to whisper closer to her. "The school board informed me of what happened during the break. If you ever feel the need to talk about what happened, I'm always here to listen."

Sakuna felt relief wash over her again; the thought that her teacher was there to support her made her, not for the first time, very grateful to be in Mr. Smith's class.

Sakuna nodded as he pulled away, standing straight again with his usual smile plastered on his face. "Thank you, sir. I'll keep that in mind."

Mr. Smith winked at her and walked past her into the center of the classroom. He clapped his hands together to grab everyone's attention, and as soon as he did so he beamed at all of them and said with gusto, "Grab your bags, everyone! We're going on a trip!"

* * *

The walk to the old county quarry was a short one; it was only a twenty-minute hike through a few fields of tall grass behind the school and then a short skip over the highway toward the looming mountains where numerous coal quarries sat. As students and teacher drew closer to the mountain, the sounds of metal clinking and the harsh thrumming of engines steadily grew louder as well. They passed right by some workers maneuvering a chunk of rock on a forklift, and the students had to cover their ears so the harsh sound of grating rock was somewhat stifled.

They made their way past all of the ongoing construction to a quieter and less busy section of the mining caves. This specific part of the mountain was reserved for a docile-looking mining museum, where several types of ore were on display in front of a collection of caves of all shapes and depths. A large billboard loomed over the entrance, proclaiming the Ghost Miner's Spooky Mine Tour with a dirty-looking bearded man grinning maliciously from its plastic surface.

Mr. Smith stopped in front of the group and clapped his hands together, rubbing them back and forth. "All right, class, here we are. We're going to be studying the rock face of this mountain, and I expect you to identify and name the different elements you see by the end of the time limit." He looked into the eyes of all his students in turn, not even blinking when his gaze skimmed Sakuna's and passed on to the others. "The group that comes to me first with their findings gets a special lunch treat."

As he continued to list the basic rules of no pushing or shoving around the rocks, Sakuna caught a faint snicker sounding behind her; she turned around to see Jade Summers and her two bullying cronies whispering to each other and glancing at Sakuna every now and then. Sakuna rolled her eyes at them and faced the front again, slightly hurt but not in the least bit surprised. As soon as she had entered her first period class today, Sakuna's stunningly beautiful academic rival had made it a point to gossip about where she had been within earshot of her; Jade was always trying to outdo Sakuna, academically and otherwise, in any way she could, mostly because she was jealous that Sakuna was at the top of almost every class they had together. Today, it seemed, would be no different.

"You are free to explore the small caves around the area, as well, and search the rubble lying about. You have 10 minutes, starting…" Mr. Smith pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch, the face on the inside of his wrist instead of out in the open. "…now!"

The class broke into murmurs as groups of twos and threes were formed between friends, and the class dispersed about the rocky slope looking for ores. Sakuna trotted over to where Patrick and Gale were peering over a grouping of rocks inside a small indent in the rock; when she approached them, they looked up and beckoned her down to join them.

Patrick crouched over the small hole, picking up a few multicolored rocks and squinting at them. "Can you tell if this is coal or partly amethyst?"

"My guess is probably coal," said Gale, crouching down beside him, "but you can say it's amethyst if you can't find any different elements."

Sakuna crouched slightly, just enough so she could see over her friends' heads and into the small indentation. After a few fruitless minutes of squinting at the same spots of rubble, Sakuna's eyes lazily drifted backward and around her to see what her classmates were doing. All of them seemed to be immersed in the 'race', and Sakuna saw a boy and girl she recognized as James and Rachel turned down by Mr. Smith for their insufficient rock supply.

Evetually her gaze wandered over towards the heap of backpacks lying in the sand a few feet away, and her eyes landed on the three girls sifting through a navy backpack…

Sakuna straightened up to a standing position, her hands balled into fists. "Hey! What are you doing going through my stuff?"

Numerous heads turned to look at Sakuna as she marched over to the three culprits; Jade Summers turned to look at her, and Sakuna felt an icy hand clutch her heart as she saw Jade waving the Death Note high in the air and bearing a smug look on her face.

"What's this? One of your Goth friend's stupid books?" Jade jeered as Sakuna quickened her pace toward her; however, as she did, Jade's two friends walked over to watch the conversation unfold.

Despite herself, Sakuna took the bait. "No, it's mine. Give it back." Sakuna felt genuine fear alight inside her, her heart thumping mad. She shouldn't have brought the Note to school…now it was in the hands of her worst rival.

She felt a stronger pang of dread seize her as Jade smirked and opened the Note to the first page. "Oh, poo. It's empty. Ah, but wait!" After skimming through a few pages, Jade had spotted the rules embossed into the inside flaps. Sakuna clutched her jacket tighter to her body, trying to hide the heat flooding her cheeks. " 'The human whose name is written in this note shall die.' Sounds like someone doesn't want their diary read, huh, Sakuna? But it's a shame you haven't written anything juicy for us to read…"

Sakuna bit her lip, her fists clenched at her sides. "I said, give it back. You have no idea what…what that is!" Sakuna blurted, unable to contain the fear that rose inside her at the thought of these girls holding her untested weapon.

Jade's eyes skimmed through the rest of the rules on the front flap, her straight brown hair stirring eerily around her face in the subtle wind that blew around the mountain. Her smile began to grow, and she looked back up at Sakuna with a baleful look in her eyes. "Oh, Sakuna, I knew you were paranoid about your grades, but this? I never thought your grief of the past week get to you so bad you made a book about it." She reached into her pocket, and Sakuna heart throbbed as Jade pulled out a pink sparkly gel pen and uncapped it. "I guess we'll just have to write the first entry in for you."

"No! You don't understand!" Sakuna darted forward and attempted to grab the Note, but Jade's two friends grabbed Sakuna's arms on either side and held her struggling form back. "Don't—stop—"

"You hear that, girls? She's actually fooled herself into believing the rules she wrote were true. She's worried for me!" Jade looked Sakuna dead in the eyes. "What's the matter, Sakuna? Was Mr. Clements not nice enough to you? Is that why you decided to 'write his name down' and shut him up for good?" Jade let out a harsh laugh that pierced Sakuna's last remaining reserve of patience.

"Shut up." Sakuna growled, her voice low. By now, a lot of the other students nearby had stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle. Sakuna saw with dismay that Patrick and Gale were talking to Mr. Smith a good distance away, all of them completely missing the debacle that was taking place and unable to help her get out of it.

"Oh, come on, take a joke already." Jade scoffed, throwing Sakuna a pitying look. "Here, I'll convince you it's not real, and you can go home and think of a better way to be a freak." Jade balanced the Note on her knee as a makeshift writing surface; delicately, her pen touched the top of the first page, making Sakuna squirm.

"Let's see…Jade…Summers…is killed by…the _ghoooost miner_—" Jade wiggled her eyebrows mockingly, "at…let's see…3:56 pm…today." Jade lifted her pen from the page, capping it up and tucking it behind her ear. She snapped the book shut, her two goons simultaneously throwing Sakuna on the ground, where she staggered and caught herself on one knee. "See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Jade snickered, her friends flanking her with grins on their faces.

"You're making a mistake," Sakuna said, her tone cool but her voice quivering slightly with rising dread. She stood up, brushing dirt off of her knees, and never broke eye contact with Jade as she rose. Sakuna tried to convey the urgency she felt to Jade with her eyes, but all it seemed Jade registered was Sakuna's embarrassment at being the center of attention.

"Don't worry, hon. Think of it as a favor from me. Now you don't have to worry about it being real anymore!" Jade smiled, trying to pass off as sincere, but Sakuna felt the ridicule in her stare. Jade threw the notebook to the ground, sending up a small dust cloud and spraying dirt every which way. "There's your stupid book. I'd burn it if I were you." And with that, Jade walked out of sight, her goons following at her heels and pushing Sakuna back down to the ground for good measure.

Sakuna reached for the Note, her fingers grasping it as she rose again from the ground, wiping pebbles and dust off the front of her clothes and feeling as if she had been skinned raw and put on display. How dare Jade and her friends mock her grief for her neighbor…How _dare _she…

Sakuna took a few measured breaths, clutching the Note to her chest and trying to get a handle on her anger. She heard the crunch of footsteps behind her, and she turned around to face Patrick and Gale scrambling towards her through the messy field of backpacks.

"Hey, what happened? Are you okay?" Gale asked, reaching Sakuna first and eyeing her dust-ridden clothes. Her black painted lips hardened into a thin line when she saw the look of mortification in Sakuna's eyes. "Don't tell me Jade…what…what's this?" Gale tried to peer through Sakuna's tightly clenched arms to the Death Note tucked between them, but Sakuna turned away from her.

"Just a journal. Jade and her goons thought it would be fun to screw around with it." Sakuna said quickly. She grabbed her backpack off the ground in front of her and stuffed the Death Note into it before Gale and Patrick could question more.

"By the state of you, it looks like they tousled you up quite a bit." Patrick mused, his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes scrunched up with worry. "Are you sure you're okay? You're all…dirty."

Sakuna rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the update, Captain Obvious, but I'm fine. Jade doesn't bother me as bad as she used to. It was just stupid, anyway." On the contrary, Sakuna felt that this was probably one of the worst times Jade had ever messed with her—ranking up there with the incident they had over a game of four square in second grade—and she couldn't imagine a worse way of testing out the Death Note than having it done in the hands of her rival.

"Hey, you're not looking too good." Gale observed with worry, putting a hand over Sakuna's shoulders and steering her back toward the rocks. "Let's get you out of this sun and hydrated, all right? You'll feel better."

Sakuna mustered a nod, but this time kept her backpack clutched tightly over her shoulder where no one could take it again. She ducked out from Gale's arm on her shoulder, standing tall and walking back toward Patrick as if nothing had just taken place.

Just as she and Gale had reached where Patrick was standing with his arms crossed, they heard a short series of claps coming from behind them. "All right, class, time's up. Let's see what you found." Mr. Smith's voice rang around the rocky clearing, and with a heavy sigh Sakuna picked up a pitiful pile of pebbles from the ground and walked with her friends toward their science teacher, hoping vacantly that she had scraped by with a B.

By the time every group had been reviewed, the afternoon had ripened and a dry, hot wind had started gusting, throwing dust up into the air and into the open eyes and mouths of the students. The tourists visiting the coal mining museum and taking the Ghost Miner Tour were herded inside by museum officials to avoid the sudden storm, and Mr. Smith took this as a sign that the field trip was over and done with.

As if the spoiled weather wasn't enough, Sakuna's heart hadn't stopped hammering since she had read her watch just moments after she and her classmates had been herded into a small outcrop of rock that sheltered them from the wind and dust. The bright green numbers had flashed at her in the sudden darkness of her surroundings, reading 3:31; as she watched the minute hand inching ever so slightly across the numbers strapped to her wrist, Sakuna felt horror and excitement battle for dominance in the pit of her stomach. She was somewhat excited to see if the Death Note actually worked, proving her deductions correct; however, terror clutched her insides at the same prospect, for if the Death Note did work after all…

…Her classmate was going to die in less than an hour.

* * *

Ryuk sat atop a swaying billboard, one leg resting on the edge of the sign while the other hung lazy and boot-clad over the sign's attraction, which seemed to be a scruffy, bearded old human with a goofy grin on his face. The hot, abrasive gusts of wind that rolled through the air merely rustled Ryuk's jet black hair and various dresses of his clothing, and the flying dust did nothing to break the beading red stare of his death-telling eyes as they trained themselves on a rocky indent in the mountain face not far from him. There was a loud _crunch_, followed by a series of grunts and smaller munching sounds, and Ryuk pulled a bright red apple from his frozen lips; he licked his yellowed teeth with the pleasure of a drunk tasting his first sip of scotch after years of sobriety.

There was a rustling snap of wings behind him, and Ryuk turned to see Light Yagami—that is, the Shinigami that was left of him—floating toward him on golden, angelic wings that didn't match the hideous skeletal creature in oversized clothes attached to them. Ryuk returned his gaze to the rock face, making space for Light to sit beside him and watch the fun unfold.

"You came." Ryuk stated.

Light nodded, training his own glowing red eyes on the slight movement in the rock indentation near the museum. Somewhere in there, Sakuna sat dreading what was about to occur in less than ten minutes.

"I had to come." Light responded; a deep-seated confidence, something that had followed him into the afterlife, flooded the cavities of his being with the old feeling of power and control he knew so well. "It's her first real encounter with the Death Note's power full on."

Ryuk chuckled, a sound so raspy and dry that any human having heard it would immediately mistake it for the wind slashing the rocks. "You'll be meeting her soon, then, I presume. Knowing you, you don't let your prey wander too far from your line of sight for too long."

"Then I guess it's time to reel her back in." Light smirked, his eyes shining with manic glee. A dark chuckle sounded deep in his throat, sounding even more hollow and ominous with his newly empty ribcage echoing his voice out into the air.

* * *

3:50pm.

Mr. Smith counted heads inside the small cave where Sakuna and her class were taking shelter, his eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement as he counted again and again to reassure what he already knew to be true.

"It's so unfair that he won't let us go get our bags." Gale huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face in her signature style of annoyance. "I mean, it's not frigging raining or anything."

"Lighten up, Gale, it's only for a few minutes probably." Patrick nudged her playfully. "Are you afraid a little dust is gonna get all over your mythology textbooks? They're dusty enough as it is, what with how ancient they are; I'm sure a little more won't hurt."

Sakuna smiled weakly at her friends banter, looking around at the other students. She noticed all of them were empty handed, none of them except for her with backpacks or any sort of bag. Instinctively, her eyes scanned each student's face as she looked at them, unconsciously counting how many of them were there as Mr. Smith had been doing for five minutes already.

Just as she realized something was missing, Mr. Smith was already pointing back outside to where three girls were making their way toward the pile of bags. "No. No no no no no! What are you three doing?"

Patrick chuckled. "Looks as if Jade and her girls couldn't handle shelter in a rocky cave for a few minutes without their phones..."

Sakuna swayed where she stood, cold terror enveloping her. The billboard advertising the Ghost Miner tours creaked loudly, leaning backward and forward with the movement of the wind. The three girls had just reached their possessions sitting beneath the billboard, and none of them were paying any attention to the hazards that surrounded them.

* * *

3:54pm.

"Come on, Jade, hurry it up." Heather Payne shouted over the scream of the wind, her short brown hair whipping around her face and catching on her sticky, lip glossed mouth. She had already stepped out of the way of the billboard, taking small steps backward through the backpacks and other bags as she waited for Jade and their other close friend Faith Black to follow her.

Jade sifted through the front pocket of her bag. "I'm trying to find it. I know it's here, somewhere. Call me, would you, Faith?"

"What?" Faith called, cupping her hands over her ears. "Say again? The stupid wind is too loud." Just then, a horrible creaking sound like the sound of a train's brakes ruptured the wind's howl and, horror-struck, Heather and Faith scrambled out of the backpack pile as fast as their legs could take them.

"Jade! Come on!" Heather shouted, her voice high with panic. The sound of screeching metal was overwhelming now, and she didn't have time to hear Jade's reply before there was a loud groan and the billboard began to tip…

* * *

40…39…38…

Sakuna's palm itched where her fingernails had dug into them, and she held her breath along with the rest of the hysterical class as they watched the billboard creak and groan in the wind, the rusted metal poles holding it above the ground giving way and crunching with the weight of the metal.

* * *

20…19…18…

"Jade!" Mr. Smith cupped his hands around his mouth, calling for the girl so oblivious to the danger around her. Sakuna swayed and fell to her kees, her vision clouding and doubling up on her.

* * *

10…9…8…

"So, I guess this is it, Ryuk." Light mused, now floating beside his Shinigami friend as they watched the billboard, grinning Ghost Miner and all, go falling through the air toward the now screaming Jade Summers below. "This is where the fun begins."

* * *

3…

There was a crunch and crash as the metal billboard hit the ground, crushing the teenage girl under its weight and suffocating the air around it with dust and sound.

2…

A hand reached out from under the metal, fingers bleeding but still trying to grasp the buzzing cell phone lying open on top of a green backpack.

1.

The hand slackened, resting crookedly on the now blood-spattered ground, the phone buzzing to a halt and sounding a voicemail. _Hey, it's Jade, leave a message!_

* * *

The quarry was bustling with paramedics and police when Sakuna, Patrick, and Gale finally got picked up by Sakuna's mom at the museum entrance. She wore a disheveled looking violet frock dress and boots, fear glistening in her eyes.

"Oh, I'm so glad you three are all right!" Freida Adams exclaimed, hopping out of the car and giving all three of them a massively painful hug. "When I heard the news I thought something had…had happened to you…" Freida's eyes calmed somewhat, but returned to a watery expression of sorrow and pain. "But Jade…I watched her grow up with all of you since you four were just tots on the jungle gym. It's really a tragic accident."

"We'll be fine, Mrs. Adams." Patrick said, his voice wavering. His face was still pale, and he kept wiping his hands on his jeans to remove the sweat that had gathered there.

Freida sighed. "I called your parents at their work and told them I'd give you two a ride home, so hop in." She unlocked the doors to her Chevi sedan with a click of her car key, and all three teens climbed into the backseat where they enjoyed the cool, fresh air coming from the air conditioner vents.

The whole ride home, Sakuna didn't utter a single word, not even to chip in to explain to her mother what had taken place. She hadn't let go of her backpack either, keeping it clutched tightly to her chest with the Death Note tucked safely inside. No way was she risking its influence anywhere near her family or friends again, which was why she intended to bury or burn it as soon as she could when she got home.

After an agonizing hour and a half of driving, Freida finally pulled into the driveway at their house and Sakuna bolted out the door and into her room faster than she ever had moved before in her life. Once safe behind her locked door, Sakuna allowed herself to take a few shallow breaths; she emptied her backpack onto her bed, sifting through the dusty contents until she found the Death Note, sitting innocently underneath her Biology textbook.

She pulled the Death Note out from under her stuff, and for a minute just stood staring at the leathery cover between her fingertips.

Impossible. It was absolutely impossible that such a thing could exist. A notebook, created for the sole purpose of killing people?

Sakuna slammed the book down on her floor with both hands, sinking to her knees and running her fingers through her knotted and tangled short blonde hair, trying to find any explanation for why this was happening to her.

A dark, hollow chuckle sounded from all corners of her room. Sakuna stopped rocking back and forth, turning her tearstained face upward to look around her room for the source of the noise after it had faded. She jumped as it sounded again, louder and more pronounced this time.

"Who…who are you?" Sakuna croaked fearfully to her seemingly empty room, her eyes wide. "Sh-Show yourself."

"Be careful what you do, little girl." Sakuna whipped her head around, and she let out a gasping shriek that pierced the air. She scooted violently backwards, her back hitting the side of her bed with a thunk.

A hideously dark figure had appeared, looming over her with shadows etched into its features. Light-limbed and lanky, it seemed as if the clothes it wore were too big for it, and its eyes were like shining rubies cutting into her own eyes. It floated motionless off the ground, suspended by a pair of golden angel wings which didn't help make the creature less intimidating.

"What…" Sakuna gasped, but no other words escaped her chalk-white lips.

The figure smiled, a wicked grin that tore down all the way to the bottom of Sakuna's soul. "Kira."


End file.
